The marine transportation industry includes both commercial and recreational water-craft. Whether a small day-sailer or super tanker, one common hazard to all mariners is the risk of falling overboard and not being able to get back to the craft. In many situations, even though the crew of the craft recognizes that a crew member has fallen overboard, it is impossible to get to them for a rescue attempt. The farther away from shore, the worse the situation. Once the shoreline is lost it is difficult to determine in which direction to seek rescue. Under stormy or nighttime conditions 5, the problem is further exacerbated.
Over time many tools and methods have been developed to increase the survivability of an overboard crew member. These include the life ring, the horseshoe buoy, self contained packages such as a plastic cylinder containing survival gear, and others. Each of these is deployed in the direction of the person who has gone overboard in the hope that it will sustain them until the craft can turn and perform the rescue. Unfortunately, as is known, many times the overboard crew member cannot be found due to a number or possible problems including rough seas, poor visibility, and others. If the crew member can be found, they can be brought back aboard. If not, the crew member is on their own for survival until such time as a search can be mounted.
Supposing that an overboard crew member has not been found, there are numerous disadvantages to the present survival tools. The life ring or horseshoe buoy alone will keep a person afloat, but has no facility for keeping the crew member dry and warm. This opens the door to hypothermia, thirst and other threats that severely diminish the chance of survival.
There are products that increase the likelihood of survival, at least for short periods. These include prepackaged kits containing such items as a mirror, a flashlight, a whistle and other items such as nutritional bars and first aid supplies. While superior to a simple life ring, these products still lack the ability to keep the person warm and dry, thus exposing them to the same risks as described above. Further, in some cases the items contained in the rescue kit are not attached to the container and are lost due to the physical and environmental conditions at the time the items are needed.
Still other products are available that solve the problems of the simpler methods discussed just above. These include a life raft, signal flares, a greater supply of nutrition and fresh water allowing one or more crew members to remain alive for an extended period of time. However, these products are very expensive, bulky and are generally found on commercial vessels and large pleasure craft. The sheer size and weight of these survival systems disqualifies them for use on smaller craft.
What would be desirable is a relatively low cost product that performs in the same way as the more expensive products and is small enough to be used on even very small craft. Moreover, if such a product could be adapted to existing methods, for example, to a life ring or horseshoe buoy, convenience and cost savings could be realized.